I am about to buy a tube amp, maybe a combo or head an cab. But I also live in a small house with my family and the volume needs to be low... So how to attentuate the 30w tubeamp best to get the feel&sound down to a level where I can hear my acoustic guitar sound when I play, but also hear that raging sound of a great tube amp thru it's cabinet? There are a lot of options, but which is the best for under 500€ and I can also use reverb or ebay to get a used one. Plus would be if there is a headphone connection. Captor x is a strong contender, but I've heard the actual attentuation side of that is not the best. Any opinnions?
Opinions on tube amp attenuators
- Thread starter Ibanez_76
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gearJunkie
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What he said, and I own 3 of them (2 x Ironman II & a Fryette Power Station).
What is the best sounding out of those you have tried?
I'm going to get either mezzabarba or redseven for the ultimate rock tone. Redseven actually is 50w head. Mezza is skill 30. Both have plenty of gain, but I'd like to get the sound and feel of OD volume at 12 o'clock to a volume of seven o'clock.
MirrorProfiles
Rock Star
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IMO power scaling usually sounds worse than using an attenuator, it really depends on how well it’s implemented. Usually it means at maximum power it sounds great, and everything else is a compromised tone sucked version.
I don’t really like attenuators, but the one built into the react IR was surprisingly useable. I paid about £500 for a used Fryette Powerstation and I think that is by far the best approach.
I don’t really like attenuators, but the one built into the react IR was surprisingly useable. I paid about £500 for a used Fryette Powerstation and I think that is by far the best approach.
gearJunkie
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For lower volume playing I prefer the Power Station primarily because the volume pot allows you to dial in the output level you want, where the Ironman's attenuation dial has preset attenuation levels that click into place as you turn the knob.
The Power Station is also more useful since it can be used as a stand alone power amp for a modeler or to make a low wattage amp louder.
Cheers
The Power Station is also more useful since it can be used as a stand alone power amp for a modeler or to make a low wattage amp louder.
Cheers
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- 3,702
I thought about an attenuator/load box for my MT15 because at its lowest settings it's still to damn loud, but since it gets most of its mojo from the preamp, sticking something in the loop with a volume knob works just fine unless I'm trying to drive the clean channel into power tube distortion. Splitting the signal with an IR after the preamp sounded about just as good in recordings as the a.mp in the room.
My EVH Stealth 50w seems to not need it at all because the volume knob taper is much nicer than the MT15.
My EVH Stealth 50w seems to not need it at all because the volume knob taper is much nicer than the MT15.
Achilles
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Indeed!
One of the best bang for the buck guitar toys you'll ever purchase.
Always goes last in the loop chain.
FX loop send > pedal #1 > pedal #2 > etc. > BLACK AMP BOX > FX loop return.
LITTLE BLACK AMP BOX
VOLUME UTILITY Taming a screaming-loud tube amp doesn’t always require bulky and expensive load boxes and attenuators. If your amp has a series effects loop, the JHS Pedals Little Black Amp Box takes care of the job while being able to fit into the palm of your hand. Simply run it through your...
jhspedals.info
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- 3,702
I'd never pay that much for a potentiometer and a couple of I/O jacks personally.Indeed!
One of the best bang for the buck guitar toys you'll ever purchase.
Always goes last in the loop chain.
FX loop send > pedal #1 > pedal #2 > etc. > BLACK AMP BOX > FX loop return.
LITTLE BLACK AMP BOX
VOLUME UTILITY Taming a screaming-loud tube amp doesn’t always require bulky and expensive load boxes and attenuators. If your amp has a series effects loop, the JHS Pedals Little Black Amp Box takes care of the job while being able to fit into the palm of your hand. Simply run it through your...
Achilles
Rock Star
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Worth it for some to get the nice enclosure and for it to look pro sitting on top of your amp.
But ya, you could make one for $10-15. Just be sure to get the right volume taper pot.
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- 3,702
Or if you have an old volume or EQ pedal laying around, that'll work too. I have an old VFX volume pedal that, at this point, only works well for this kind of application.
At the moment I run 4CM with my HX Stomp and use the master volume in that. Yeah, plenty more expensive than a LBB but I already had it!
Mezzabarba skill30 or redseven duality50 at the moment, maybe fortin sigil 20 is a possibility too
SKU
Roadie
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- 845
With that kind of amps you might not have to crank the poweramp but the sweet spot is still 2-3/10 which is pretty loud!
I have a Mesa Express 5:50+ and with my attenuator I hear absolutely no difference adjusting the power amp past 4/10 ... but at that point it is very loud even on the 10w setting. On the opposite my 2555 sounds like shit before 6-7/10 and after that it only improves. As you can imagine it’s unbearable loud at that point without an attenuator.
Unbearably loud as in it would probably blow out the windows...
Achilles
Rock Star
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I use one of these:
And re-amp it through one of these:
Then straight into a 1 x 12 cabinet loaded with one of these:
laxu
Rock Star
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- 5,395
Those are master volume, preamp gain based amps. They might not even sound better cranked.
The thing you are after is most likely the effect of volume on our perception and there is nothing that can do that except play at louder volume.
Southpaw-DD
Groupie
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- 76
Instead of trying to get good tone through a guitar cab at conversation level volume, I've started using a reactive load box and then running that into an IR and FR-10 or studio monitors. Still early in that process, but for me, it offers the advantage of tube amp "feel", but keeps the volume in check.
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